ZAMBIA EXPLAINS
A GEM STONE ZAMBIA CAN'T SEE
THE BIRD UNCAGED: SAMPA THE GREAT, SIA AND THE NEW ZAMROCK REVOLUTION
Article by Rodgers Mangwela | KASONDE24
What happens when a country produces a world-class musical talent whose artistic value seems to receive greater recognition beyond its borders than within its own musical ecosystem?
Sometimes, the greatest treasures are not buried underground. They are walking among us, creating history while we are busy looking elsewhere.
Meet Sampa the Great, the Zambian-born musical powerhouse whose latest creative journey is bringing an important chapter of Zambia's musical heritage back into the international conversation.
Her new album, Nu Zamrock, released on 30 October 2026, features the track Supernova, featuring international pop superstar Sia. This is more than another international collaboration. It is an opportunity to examine how a Zambian artist is connecting generations of music, bringing African identity into contemporary sounds and reintroducing a distinctly Zambian musical tradition to global audiences.
For Zambia, there is a bigger story here than a song featuring a famous international musician.
SAMPA THE GREAT: A ZAMBIAN STORY WITH GLOBAL WINGS
Born Sampa Tembo in Ndola, Zambia, Sampa the Great grew up primarily in Botswana before eventually moving to Australia, where her professional music career gained international momentum.
Her upbringing across Zambia and Botswana gave her a multicultural foundation that would later become an important part of her musical identity.
She developed an interest in writing poetry and lyrics at a young age. Her early musical influences included hip-hop, soul, gospel and African sounds.
Her journey also took her to the United States, where she studied music for visual media before moving to Australia in 2013. She subsequently studied audio engineering at SAE Institute.
It was in Australia that her music began attracting significant international attention.
Her 2017 mixtape, Birds and the Bee9, established her as an exciting voice in alternative hip-hop. Her debut studio album, The Return, released in 2019, strengthened that reputation.
She became a two-time Australian Music Prize winner, receiving recognition for Birds and the Bee9 and The Return.
Her achievements included multiple ARIA Awards, including recognition for Best Hip Hop Release and Best Female Artist.
Sampa was no longer simply an emerging African musician trying to find an international audience. She had become an internationally recognised artist with a distinctive musical identity.
THE RETURN HOME THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Sometimes, discovering where you come from changes where you are going.
After spending years building her career in Australia, Sampa returned to Zambia around 2020. The move became an important turning point in her artistic development.
Her 2022 album, As Above, So Below, was recorded in Zambia and brought together different dimensions of her identity, including Zambian and Botswanan influences.
The album featured collaborations with artists such as Angélique Kidjo, Denzel Curry and Jagari Chanda of the legendary Zambian band WITCH.
But something particularly interesting happened during her exploration of Zambia's musical history.
She discovered that her uncle, George Kunda, also known as Groovy Joe, was a founding member of WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc), one of the pioneering groups of the Zamrock movement.
Imagine building an international music career and only later discovering that a major part of the musical tradition you are exploring is already connected to your family.
That discovery gave her a deeper sense of ownership and connection to the music she was creating.
It also opened a door to something much bigger than personal discovery: the revival and reinvention of a distinctly Zambian musical heritage.
ZAMROCK: THE SOUND THAT ONCE MADE ZAMBIA DIFFERENT
To understand Sampa's latest musical direction, we must first understand Zamrock.
During the 1970s, Zambia developed a remarkable musical movement known as Zamrock.
It emerged during the early years of independence, when African societies were exploring new identities, cultural confidence and creative independence.
Zamrock blended psychedelic rock, funk, blues and elements of traditional African music.
Electric guitars, energetic performances, experimental arrangements and socially conscious themes became important characteristics of the movement.
Among its most recognised pioneers were WITCH, Amanaz, Ngozi Family and Chrissy Zebby Tembo.
WITCH, in particular, became internationally recognised for its contribution to the genre.
However, economic difficulties, changing political and social circumstances, and the wider decline of the music industry contributed to the movement losing much of its momentum.
For decades, Zamrock remained an important part of Zambia's cultural history, even as many younger listeners became more familiar with contemporary hip-hop, R&B, gospel and international pop.
Today, its influence is finding new life.
And Sampa the Great wants to take that story further.
NU ZAMROCK: NOT A COPY OF THE PAST
Sampa's latest album, Nu Zamrock, represents an attempt to take the original Zamrock philosophy into a new musical generation.
It is not simply about recreating the sounds of the 1970s or dressing contemporary music in vintage clothing.
It is about experimentation.
The project brings together psychedelic rock, hip-hop, soul, funk and traditional Zambian musical influences, including Kalindula rhythms.
This combination creates a sound that respects the past without becoming imprisoned by it.
Her approach also raises an important question for African musicians: must we abandon our musical heritage to compete internationally?
Sampa's work suggests otherwise.
There is room for African musical identity, contemporary production, international collaborations and commercial appeal to exist within the same creative space.
Her earlier song Can't Hold Us offered audiences a taste of this direction, with its energetic guitar-driven arrangement and commanding rap delivery.
With Nu Zamrock, she develops that musical conversation into a larger artistic statement.
SUPERNOVA: WHEN ZAMBIA MEETS THE INTERNATIONAL POP STAGE
One of the exciting talking points surrounding the new album is Supernova, featuring Sia.
Sia is an internationally recognised Australian singer and songwriter whose career includes major global hits and collaborations across the international music industry.
Bringing an artist of her profile into a project rooted in Zambian musical heritage creates an interesting meeting of musical worlds.
But the significance of Supernova should not be reduced to the presence of an international superstar.
The bigger achievement is the opportunity to introduce a musical identity connected to Zambia to listeners who might never have explored Zamrock before.
Sampa's strength is her ability to move between musical environments without losing her artistic character.
Her delivery is deliberate. She understands when to apply pressure, when to stretch a line and when to allow silence to communicate something that words cannot.
Her command of rhythm, lyrical expression and performance energy gives her music a distinctive personality.
There are moments when her rap delivery carries the intensity and confidence associated with some of the finest international hip-hop performers.
Yet her identity remains African.
She is not trying to become an American rapper. She is bringing her own musical vocabulary into a global conversation.
THE BIRD UNCAGED: A LESSON FOR ZAMBIA'S MUSIC INDUSTRY
There is an uncomfortable question Zambia needs to confront.
How much attention do we give our creative talents before international recognition confirms their value?
Our country has a remarkable musical history, from Zamrock pioneers to contemporary Kalindula musicians, hip-hop artists, gospel performers and emerging alternative musicians.
Yet preserving this heritage requires more than celebrating musicians after they have succeeded internationally.
It requires investment in music education, recording infrastructure, copyright awareness, publishing, artist management, marketing and international distribution.
A talented musician needs more than applause. They need an ecosystem that allows their creativity to become a sustainable profession.
Sampa's journey also demonstrates the importance of understanding intellectual property and building an internationally competitive artistic identity.
For young musicians in Kabwe, Katondo, Lusaka and other parts of Zambia, her story offers an important lesson: your geographical location should not determine the size of your creative ambitions.
You can create from Africa and reach the world.
You can study your cultural history and turn it into something commercially relevant.
And you can collaborate internationally without surrendering your identity.
ZAMBIA'S MUSICAL TREASURE MUST NOT BE AN AFTERTHOUGHT
Sampa the Great represents an interesting intersection between Zambia's musical past and its creative future.
Her discovery of her family's connection to WITCH, her return to Zambia and her exploration of Zamrock demonstrate how personal history can become a powerful source of artistic innovation.
But there is another responsibility here.
Zambia must learn to document, preserve, promote and commercially develop its musical heritage.
The stories of the pioneers must be taught to younger generations. Their recordings must be preserved. Their contributions must be recognised. And contemporary musicians must be encouraged to experiment with these foundations.
Otherwise, we risk becoming a country whose musical treasures are better understood and appreciated by international audiences than by the generations growing up in the communities where those sounds originated.
Sampa has opened another window through which the world can look at Zambia.
The question is whether Zambia is prepared to look through that same window and recognise what it has.
From Ndola to Botswana, Australia and the international music stage, Sampa Tembo's journey is a reminder that sometimes the future of African music is hidden in the sounds of its past.
The bird is uncaged.
And this time, it is carrying a piece of Zambia's musical history across the world.
published by KASONDE24
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